Connor Flanigan Mr. Zamanis English 9 6 March 2024 Romeo & Juliet Few characters are capable of bringing comedy and truth into a play like Mercutio can. Mercutio is one of the key characters in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. This play is a tragedy of two young starstruck lovers, in the midst of a family rivalry that causes them to inevitably die together. Mercutio, Romeo's best friend, is viewed by many as one of Shakespeare’s greatest characters. He is one of Shakespeare’s greatest characters because of his loyalty, humor, and confidence. Mercutio is a great character because of his loyalty towards his best friend Romeo. In the text Mercutio states, “Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives. That I mean to make bold withdrawal, …show more content…
Make haste, lest mine be about your ears, ere it be out” (3.1.74-79). This quote shows a point in the story where Mercutio was standing up for his friend Romeo and was going to fight Tybalt. Mercutio's loyalty was shown in this section of the play because Tybalt wanted to fight Romeo but Romeo wouldn't fight him so Mercutio stepped into the fight, ending his life for Romeo. As can be seen in the paragraph above, loyalty can be exposed through the willingness of Mercutio to stand up for his friend, which makes him a great character. Mercutio’s humor contributes to his remarkable character. His humor is exemplified when Mercutio says, “O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you / She is the fairies midwife, and she comes / In shape no bigger than an agate stone / on the forefinger of an alderman, / drawn with a team of little atomies” (1.4.53-57). The quote reveals how Mercutio is enlightening his friends through a funny dream that he once had about a fairy that flies across the dreams of men and women, giving them dreams that are not true in reality. The point of this ridiculous dream is to make a funny joke out of Romeo’s love for Rosaline, in which he does make Romeo